Displays built from mechanical light modulators are an attractive alternative to displays based on liquid crystal technology. Mechanical light modulators are fast enough to display video content with good viewing angles and with a wide range of color and grey scale. Mechanical light modulators have been successful in projection display applications. Backlit displays using mechanical light modulators have not yet demonstrated sufficiently attractive combinations of brightness and low power. There is a need in the art for fast, bright, low-powered mechanically actuated displays.
Unlike in liquid crystal displays, MEMS-based displays include hundreds, thousands, or in some cases, millions of moving elements. In some devices, every movement of an element provides an opportunity for stiction to disable one or more of the elements. In addition, effective operation of MEMS-based displays depends on the coupling of optical, electrical, and/or mechanical components. Misalignment of such components can lead to inferior picture quality and potentially even inoperability of the display as a whole.